Re: samples, it all depends on who your contact is. When its up and running, you could perhaps find out who other friendly bloggers interact with at the companies.

When I was writing record reviews (admittedly a long time ago), it was all on a person to person basis. Most guys at DG would blow us off, but one guy we finally hooked up with would send us any new fancy opera box set I asked for as long as we promised to write a review (any review) within the month.

I havent seen Chantecaille (for example) on very many blogs as promo samples, but I have on a few. One, in particular, always mentions specific counter contacts at one of the DC stores, so I suspect she got contacts that way, especially since I don't think she is a huge blog or anything.

Do most Whole Foods sell the same health & beauty brands?

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

600 doesn't seem too much for the sort of blog MBM has in mind. Even the smaller more niche blogs I read seem to have at least 900+ subscribers.

Lots of people even beyond the vegan community are interested in cruelty free products even if they don't care about ingredients.

From what I've seen, having nail swatches and nail polish stuff will bring in traffic. New nail blogs, if they are good, can get tons of followers right away, esp if they are established Makeup Alley people.

Does anyone here post on MUA? I used to, but got fed up with mean, bisque-y people.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

Does anyone here post on MUA? I used to, but got fed up with mean, bisque-y people.

I used to, mainly on the skincare board though. But I also haven't posted in years, it's gotten pretty weird. I still use their product review database constantly.

_________________"If I were M. de la Viandeviande, I would now write a thirteen page post about how you have to have free will to be vegan, but modern science does not suggest any evidence for free will, therefore it is impossible to be vegan." -mumbles

I'd love to help if I can! I like giving my opinions on things, and I LOVE seeing swatches and before/afters when looking to buy something. Especially lipsticks and balms- I hate the little color picture they give you on the company site. I want to see it on a person! So if there's a way for people to submit photos that would be great.

I like the idea a lot. I'm another one who doesn't wear much if any makeup, but I am on a quest for the perfect mascara and I've been experimenting with different face/hair/body products lately. So I'd be willing to submit!

I'm definitely in. I'm a makeup junkie and can post reviews, swatches, and tutorials. Due to my current economic situation, I've recently switched from buying makeup at sephora to buying at the drug store, so I can recommend cheaper makeup. For example, I was thinking of this post today when I went to pick up my crazy pills so I grabbed some mascara and foundation from Wet and Wild because I recalled reading in the UD thread that they were vegan and the ingredients looked okay.I can also help out with body care stuff. I worked at LUSH for two and a half years so I have a ridiculous amount of product/ingredient knowledge so I can post reviews for them, too.

Also, re: mobile friendly website, that's the rad thing about wordpress. Every template I've used with them at least has been mobile friendly.

Yep! The first thing I did when I got my loaner ipod touch was check my website and sigh with relief.

Does anyone object to the name*? I am worried that it sounds too girl-centric, boys and anyone inbetween are welcome if they wear makeup or not! I assume that every dude who isn't femme isn't like Brian and just washes himself with whatever his wife hands him. I could probably fill a shampoo bottle with dish soap and he wouldn't even blink.

I am already re-thinking the city/state/country list a bit, because if I list every city that has a Walgreens...long list! I think instead I will make a list of chains and say, "If your town has a Walgreens (link to their store locator page), they probably have this and this brand." And then if you are lucky enough to have a health food store in your town that sells anything (they probably at least sell soap and toothpaste and the like), then that will be a list.

I am making myself crazy already!

*I want to start a facebook page so I can easily get input about specific things.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I think this is a great idea. I don't wear a lot of a makeup, but I do have a major addiction to hair products. As soon as I find out something is vegan and made for curly hair, I have to try it.

Would it also be useful to say if your local HFS or a chain like Whole Foods would be good for finding things like shea butter, cocoa butter, almond oil, aloe, etc.? I know those things aren't specifically cosmetics, but for the newly vegan/natural products type person, it may not be obvious that you can look there for those types of beauty products.

_________________"Noooo! Karyn, you have to stop posting old Jensen pics. He looks way too smooth in those pics, like if I touch his face it'll feel like silk or bosoms or something."-mixmaster_moIt's Raining Kale

I think it will be hard for a makeup focused blog to not be girl-centric. There could be a section for male persons. I'd guess that any guy reading it would be ok with girliness since it kind of goes with the subject. I bet its even harder to find information on men's vegan/cruelty free body care products.

Besides, guys can be pretty too.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

Would it also be useful to say if your local HFS or a chain like Whole Foods would be good for finding things like shea butter, cocoa butter, almond oil, aloe, etc.? I know those things aren't specifically cosmetics, but for the newly vegan/natural products type person, it may not be obvious that you can look there for those types of beauty products.

I like this idea a lot. I remember looking into the oil-cleansing method years ago and giving up immediately because I didn't know where the heck one would find jojoba oil or things like that.

I'm in! Australia is totally lacking a one-stop list of vegan beauty products (a couple of weeks ago I seriously spent about 20 minutes standing in a pharmacy Googling vegan hairspray on my phone, and got nowhere), so I'm happy to cover some stuff on that front. I'm also keen to get more into DIY beauty stuff, so I'd love to try and review 'recipes' or whatever.

I like the name. And I like the idea of a section or a tag for men's products so they're easy to locate for butch vegan fellas (and genderqueer people, and ladies who enjoy smelling more masculine).

Ideas for men's brands to check out, Paul Mitchell has a men's line called Mitch, Jack Black is cruelty free and has vegan products, Every Man Jack that they sell at Target looks to be CF, and there's Manglaze nail polish marketed for men. And of course Herban Cowboy.

I'd love to see reviews of CF and vegan men's colognes. My husband likes to wear cologne but we haven't tried any since we went vegan.

_________________In addition to BB creams, we now have CC creams and even DD creams. Where's my ZZ cream? I need help growing a sweet beard.-amandabear

Weighing in as a makeup-wearing boy/genderqueer type.... I reckon the name is great. I think that lots of people, regardless of gender, wear makeup to look and feel pretty/sexy/whatever. I'd have no problems with visiting a site that used "pretty" in the title, and I think lots of other makeup-wearing boys would feel similarly.

Also, I'm just wondering if separate men's and women's categories are really necessary. It sounds like the brands themselves are pretty gender-segregated, so it wouldn't be that difficult to find men's skincare amongst a general "skincare" tag. I guess it's just always bothered me that skincare products are so unnecessarily gender-segregated, when they often contain pretty similar ingredients. I know products targeted at men and women smell different to each other, but it becomes this weird gender binary thing that might feel exclusionary to masculine women and feminine men who check out the website. Maybe (if the people who end up working on the blog decided to do this) there could be something in the "About" section mentioning that the blog is for all vegans who use cosmetics and skincare products, regardless of gender, and that's why the products normally targeted at "men" and "women" aren't separated that way? It's only a really little thing, and wouldn't be a huge deal either way, but possibly something to think about?

_________________If I chew on garlic that's been in a vagina, isn't that exploiting SOMEONE? - coldandsleepyAfter all, you can't spell Richard Dawkins without "dickwad". - EmperorTomatoKetchup

Weighing in as a makeup-wearing boy/genderqueer type.... I reckon the name is great. I think that lots of people, regardless of gender, wear makeup to look and feel pretty/sexy/whatever. I'd have no problems with visiting a site that used "pretty" in the title, and I think lots of other makeup-wearing boys would feel similarly.

Also, I'm just wondering if separate men's and women's categories are really necessary. It sounds like the brands themselves are pretty gender-segregated, so it wouldn't be that difficult to find men's skincare amongst a general "skincare" tag. I guess it's just always bothered me that skincare products are so unnecessarily gender-segregated, when they often contain pretty similar ingredients. I know products targeted at men and women smell different to each other, but it becomes this weird gender binary thing that might feel exclusionary to masculine women and feminine men who check out the website. Maybe (if the people who end up working on the blog decided to do this) there could be something in the "About" section mentioning that the blog is for all vegans who use cosmetics and skincare products, regardless of gender, and that's why the products normally targeted at "men" and "women" aren't separated that way? It's only a really little thing, and wouldn't be a huge deal either way, but possibly something to think about?

I have thought about this! On the one hand, I would want a way for people who want dudely-marketed items to find them easily. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to just label it 'mens skincare' for the reasons you mentioned. But I want it to be easy to find because let's face it, there aren't really any male vegan bloggers talking about their aftershave. So I would probably make a whole page for it and acknowledge that fact, and then link to any post that contains 'mens' items. Unless someone can help me think of a tag that isn't going to make people feel excluded AND easily conveys to those looking that we're talking about those kinds of products.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I would definitely use the blog! I haven't transitioned all my beauty products over and feel overwhelmed on where to start.

If somebody is really ambitious I would also love an app that let you scan the barcode of products and automatically told you vegan or not vegan. If this does exist and I somehow missed it, please let me know.